Fiberglass Drift Boat repairs?

Hey All,

Looking for some insight on some repairs/refinishing I'd like to get done on my new, to me, Clackcraft drift boat. I know Clacka offers some repairs at their facilities but driving to Oregon is out of the question for now.

A few notes:
The boat does not have any leaks.
Gel Coat is chipped away in a few places along the edges on the hull.
Some spidering of the gel coat in some places.

Questions:
1. Can you suggest any Sacramento, or surrounding areas, based repair shops for a fiberglass boat?

2. What are the best Local shops for boat necessities? Prefer local vs large chain.

Thanks and cheers.

Aaron

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Hi Aaron, did you find a shop to do the repairs on your boat? I’m looking for a good local shop to do some repaira on my Clacka. Any info you can share would be appreciated. Blane

Auto Body Dynamics is a body shop that does fiberglass repair and paint.

RVs, boats and jet skis...

Address: 1630 El Camino Ave, Sacramento, CA 95815

Phone: (916) 349-2079

Gary at Classic Craft restores the older wooden boats and does lots of fiberglass boat repair.

https://sacramentoboatrepair.net/


Sacramento Boat Repair


Phone Number: 916 383 2150

Email Address: boat_doctor@sbcglobal.net

Hours of operation:

M-F 6am to 3:30pm

Address

8509 Folsom Blvd.
Sacramento, Ca 95826, United States

I’d suggest diy. It’s not hard and there is a lot of reference material online to do it right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr T

I’d suggest diy. It’s not hard and there is a lot of reference material online to do it right.

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tell us how your last fiberglass boat DIY project went ....lol

There are lots of very good Youtube videos on fiberglass repair.

I just rebuilt a 11’ Boston Whaler with multiple punctures to the bottom of the hull, plus the keel had about 12” of bad damage where it hit something that crushed it. The amount of info on YouTube gave me the confidence to rebuild it. It’s not rocket science and it turned into a fun project. I have made it into a nice little flyfishing pram.
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I also suggest DIY if you're just repairing chipped gel coat and not fiberglass. I bought a used/refurbished clacka from clacka, and I've repaired the gel coat on the chines twice. If your hull is white, it's easy. Get the white gel coat from West Marine. You basically mix it up and apply it to the affected areas with a putty knife, then sand it smooth. I used a mouse/detail/palm sander form Harbor freight. You can wet sand to super smooth if you want, and finish with polishing compound. After I did my repair (super quickly, carelessly with the boat leaning back still on the trailer), you couldn't see the repair at all. I'm due for another one (it seems like I need it about every two or three years depending on how much I use my boat on the Trinity and other low water rivers in MT, etc.) I've always considered repairing the gel coat on the chines as a maintenance issue and more about protecting the integrity of the fiberglass than about cosmetics/performance. I'm not sure what you should do about the spiderwebbing (forget about it?).

If you have a colored hull, I'd hold off until clacka can do it. They might even have trouble matching it depending on how old the color is. I think you'll find that it's hard to get a local repair place to do it half-assed/cheaply, and their charge will be the same as clack. I'm not saying you wont find someone, but I'm saying it will be hard.